Weight Loss Reward Chart
Celebrate weight loss milestones, no matter how small, with our Weight Loss Reward Chart template that encourages non-food-related rewards.
Fact Checked by Ericka Pingol.
What is a Weight Loss Reward Chart template?
Weight loss is a marathon, not a sprint, so it’s essential to have regular, smaller goals throughout the weight loss journey to keep motivation levels high.
One way to mark progress and celebrate the achievement of smaller goals is by planning rewards you can enjoy as you achieve each goal. This customizable resource lets you determine milestones you’d like to celebrate and how you’d like to reward yourself. The anticipation of reaching the next reward helps maximize weight loss, keep the process light-hearted, and reward your hard work!
Sticking to a weight loss regimen is a big commitment and will likely involve a lifestyle change for the rest of your life. As such, it’s best to go into this undertaking with all the tools you can to maximize your chances of success. Celebrating the small wins along the way to your big goal will help you keep a positive mindset and make your weight loss journey rewarding.
This Weight Loss Reward Chart template is a simple framework for you to fill in your or your client’s milestones and dream up rewards that can help reinforce positive choices along the way to the final weight loss goal.
Printable Weight Loss Reward Chart Template PDF
Check out our free Weight Loss Reward Chart Template PDF here
How does it work?
This Printable Weight Loss Reward Chart template is a simple and accessible resource your clients can start using the right way with little further instruction. Just follow the steps below to ensure you’re getting the most out of this chart.
Step One. Enter client details
We have provided space for your client’s details, including their starting weight, goal weight, and the date they begin their weight loss journey.
Step Two. Set weight loss milestones
The next step is to decide on the milestones. If your client has 100 lbs to lose, five or ten pounds increments can be a good starting point. Depending on your client’s weight loss goals, increase or decrease the increments as needed.
Milestones also don’t have to be in terms of weight loss. Your client may prefer to measure their progress using body measurements, clothes sizes, or physical activities they have been able to undertake as their mobility and fitness improves.
Step Three. Decide on rewards
Does your client love going to the movies? Or are they a voracious reader? Design rewards based on your client’s interests to tailor this chart to them. Consider excluding food-based rewards if your client tends to eat emotionally or use trigger foods as rewards.
Step Four. Check off each reward as the milestone is achieved
The last step is for your client to add the date they achieve each milestone and check off the reward as they achieve it!
Weight Loss Reward Chart example (sample)
For some specific ideas of weight loss rewards and how this chart can reward your clients for achieving weight loss milestones- just look at our example Weight Loss Reward Chart below.
Download this Weight Loss Reward Chart example here.
When would you use this template?
This weight loss reward chart can be valuable for healthcare practitioners, including dietitians, weight loss coaches, personal trainers, and primary care physicians. These professionals often employ a holistic approach to promote healthy lifestyles, and a reward chart can serve as a motivational aid within their strategies.
For surgery patients and bariatric surgery candidates, where often, to qualify for surgery, a set amount of weight must be lost, this reward chart can offer an incentive to adhere to pre-operative dietary guidelines. Following an operation, it can assist in monitoring and celebrating weight loss milestones, enhancing the overall recovery experience.
Clients with type II diabetes stand to benefit significantly from weight loss, as it can contribute to improved blood sugar control and, in some cases, reverse disease symptoms entirely. A reward chart tailored to their lifestyle and weight loss goals can help to improve compliance with a weight loss plan and keep motivation levels up.
Additionally, people struggling with obesity or overweight conditions can use this Weight Loss Reward Chart as a positive force for making healthy lifestyle changes. This rewards chart provides a tangible representation of your client’s progress, reinforcing positive behaviors and helping to sustain motivation throughout their journey to a healthier weight.
Benefits of this Weight Loss Reward Chart
Track progress
Aside from rewards, this chart can also be used to track progress using milestones. Looking back and seeing your client's milestones can be a great motivator and reminder that their positive choices are paying off!
Celebrate small milestones
Particularly for clients who will be losing weight over a long period, it’s vital to have smaller goals to mark progress and keep motivation. Smaller milestones can be an excellent way for your client to see their progress, and celebrating these milestones can help to make the weight loss experience more positive.
Motivate your clients to stick to their plan
This chart is ultimately a motivational tool. At low points in a weight loss journey, sometimes all it takes is one good reason not to make an unhealthy choice or throw out a week’s worth of progress over one slip-up. This reward chart can provide more reasons to stay on track and be a great asset when your clients have a long-term plan.
Break down significant goals into more manageable goals
This reward chart can also help with goal setting and ensuring that smaller goals don’t go by unrecognized. Smaller goals can make a significant weight loss goal less daunting, and focusing on the next milestone and the reward it will bring your clients’ can avoid becoming overwhelmed.
Explore non-food-related rewards
This chart can also help to shift your clients' thinking away from food-based rewards if this is a habit they have gotten into. Ask your clients to think of rewards that don’t involve food or eating or focus more on a new experience than food to keep other areas of their lives balanced.
Commonly asked questions
Rewards should be based on activities or items specific to your client's interests. This will help to make the reward genuinely motivating and something your client can look forward to. Some examples include cinema tickets, supplies specific to your client’s hobbies, clothing, accessories, a getaway or vacation, a self-care appointment such as lashes or nails, a photoshoot, or technology.
Setting milestones frequently enough will help to maintain positivity and motivation on the journey to the ultimate weight loss goal. As such, to determine how often a weight loss reward should be set- just break up the final goal into smaller goals that are more manageable in the short term—i.e., weeks to months rather than months to years.
Milestones can be measured in all sorts of ways. These can be kilograms or pounds lost, e.g., every five pounds lost, but can also be inches lost, clothing sizes dropped, or physical activities achieved.
